We all know that any half-wit with access to a computer and multimedia- editing software can slice and dice news footage, dub in some beats, upload the resulting clip to YouTube and become an instant star. But editing a speech by Rudy Giuliani so he sounds like he's in favor of pornography is no big thing -- more like the definition of the word "sophomoric."

Most of the CamPain2008 videos posted by Michael Stevens to his YouTube home page fit that category. Funny only if you're stoned or so resolutely partisan that any mockery instantly becomes high art.

But then there's Barack O'Bollywood, which mashes Obama up with Bollywood dancing and singing. As the caption goes, it's "East meets West on acid." It is remarkable, and somehow utterly brilliant, even if it's impossible to say whether it means anything, politically speaking. (Thanks to Ultrabrown for the tip.)

Are you kidding? Indian Sikhs (the turban-wearing folks that untraveled Americans love to assume are 9-11 nutcases) suffer all the time from the ill-informed, appearance-based snap-judgement that a video presentation of information makes "real." As a demographer, I'd bet large sums of money that people view this video and presume the rumors of Obama's suspicious "muslim" roots are proved true - It's on the internet, it must be real.

Yeah, it's a crap mash-up. But with further implications than an insult to real creativity.